Theoretical study of bubble pulsation characteristics in underwater contact explosions

Contact explosion is an important condition in the damage and protection of underwater structures, and the pulsating bubbles generated by explosive underwater explosion are an important damage source. The current research on underwater explosion bubbles mainly focuses on the pulsating characteristics of spherical bubbles under free-field and typical boundary conditions, while there is a notable lack of research on non-spherical bubbles under contact explosion conditions. The pulsation characteristics of underwater contact explosion bubbles were systematically investigated through theoretical modeling, numerical simulations, and experiments. To address the theoretical gap in contact explosion dynamics, a hemispherical bubble dynamics model under rigid wall contact conditions was established based on incompressible and inviscid fluid assumptions. By comparing present model with the spherical bubble pulsation model in an incompressible flow field, quantitative relationships between parameters such as the maximum bubble radius, initial radius, pulsation period were obtained. Theoretical analysis reveals that the maximum radius, initial radius, and pulsation period of contact explosion bubbles are 1.26 times (theoretical scaling factor) those of free-field conditions. An error analysis was conducted to account for factors such as fluid compressibility, unstable bubble deformation, and energy dissipation induced by bubble-rigid wall interactions. Numerical simulations using LS-DYNA for underwater explosions with 0.300 g, 0.233 g, and 5.000 g TNT charges under varying water depths reveal that the scaling factors for maximum radius and pulsation period under contact explosion conditions range from 1.22 to 1.24 and 1.20 to 1.21 times those of free-field results, respectively, with simulation errors below 5% compared to theoretical predictions. Experimental validation in a water tank shows that the maximum radius and period of contact explosion bubbles are 1.10 and 1.06 times those of free-field conditions. During the experiments, plate vibrations were observed upon explosion, which significantly contributed to experimental errors. This work addresses the theoretical gap in contact explosion bubble dynamics, enhances the understanding of boundary effects in underwater explosion phenomena.